Klopp: Liverpool's final pass not good enough

Liverpool lacked a clinical edge against Bayern Munich, but Jurgen Klopp refused to blame their break between fixtures.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp

Jurgen Klopp lamented Liverpool's final pass during a 0-0 draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The Premier League outfit lacked a clinical edge in the attacking third as they were held by Bayern at Anfield in the last-16 first leg.

Klopp rued his side's attacking display, saying their passing cost them chances, and exposed them defensively.

"Our problem was, on one hand the quality of the opponent of course, but on the other hand our last pass was not our friend," he told a news conference.

"We had 10 or 12 situations where everything was prepared, everything was on a plate, and then we played a very average last pass or gave it away.

 

"That caused us two problems – one, we didn't create a chance, and on the other hand we gave them the ball and they had a counter-attack, which made the game even more intense.

"But how it is in situations like that, I'm pretty sure at the moment Bayern feel a bit better than we do but we have three weeks, and day by day the result will feel a bit better for us and a bit worse for Bayern. It's 0-0, the best draw you can get.

"It will be a tough one again to play at Bayern. If we win 1-0 tonight, what would have changed really? Then a 0-0 is enough as well, or we draw 1-1 – but that's now enough as well. So it's not perfect but good enough to work with."

Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah both squandered opportunities for Liverpool, who were in action for the first time since February 9.

But Klopp, whose team visit Manchester United on Sunday, refused to use the break as an excuse.

"The 10-day break? What does the final pass have to do with that? You have to look at the game and think about the game, and not prepare a question because we had a 10-day break," he said.

"I have no clue why we didn't play the last pass. The sharpness has nothing to do with the last pass, it's about being in the moment, doing the right steps. You saw the situations, it had nothing to do with 10 days' [break].

"We cannot change it, we had the 10-day break and now we will not have any break anymore, now we play through – and if it was a problem then we will not have that problem anymore because now we play every three days."